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HISTORICAL SKETCHES 



Institutions of Learning 



WITHIN TH^ BOUNDS OF THE 



KENTUCKY ANNUAL CONFERENCE 



Methodist Episcopal Church, South. 

BY 

REV. DR. GEO. S. SAVAGE. • 



WINCHESTER, KENTUCKY, 
AUGUST, 1899. 




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HISTORICAL SKETCHES 



Institutions of Learning 



WITHIN THR BOUNDS OF THE 



KENTUCKY ANNUAL CONFERENCE 



OF THE 



Methodist Episcopal Church, South. 



REV. DR. GEO. S. SAVAGE. 



WINCHESTER, KENTUCKY, 
AUGUST, 1899. 



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INTRODUCTION. 



A T the Educational Convention of Ministers 
^~^ and Laymen in Louisville, Kentucky, in 
June, 1899, it was suggested to the writer to pre- 
pare a historical sketch of Methodist institutions 
of learning in Kentucky. Upon inquiry it is 
found that Rev. Gross Alexander, D. D., of Van- 
derbilt University, and Rev. R. W. Browder, of 
the lyouisville Conference, have prepared and pub- 
lished such sketches of institutions within the 
bounds of the Louisville Conference. 

Following this precedent, we shall attempt to 
make record only of such institutions of learning 
within the bounds of the Kentucky Conference. 

We are indebted to Samuel Duncan, of Nich- 
olasville, Ky., for the use of a work, " Early Schools 
of Methodism," by A. W. Cummings, D.D., LL. D., 
Wellsville, N. Y. ; and for valuable information, to 
Rev. James M. Buckley, D. D., editor Christian 
Advocate^ New York ; to Rev. Thomas Watts, Nich- 
olasville ; President A. G. Murphey, of Logan Fe- 
male College, Russell ville ; Thomas E. Savage, 
3 



4 INTRODUCTION. 

Millersburg; to Professor D. W. Battson, of Ken- 
tucky Wesley an College, Winchester, Ky. ; and to 
others. 

While great care has been taken to prepare re- 
liable information, minor errors may have crept 
into the records, and omissions may be detected, 
arising from studied brevity ; yet it is believed that 
some facts have been preserved that might have 
been lost to history. 

These sketches are submitted to the Kentucky 

Conference and others, with a desire to elevate and 

promote the interests of education in the State. 

GEORGE S. SAVAGE. 
Winchester, Ky., August, 1899. 



INDEX. 



PAGE. 

Augusta Coi.i,ege, ------- 9 

Augusta Coi^lege Institute, ----- 35 

asbury coi.ege, -------- 37 

Betheiv Academy, --7 

Bourbon Femai^e C01.1.EGE, 40 

Covington FemaIvE High Schooi<, - - - .-21 

DoDD, James Wii,i,i AM, I^Iv. D., ----- 27 

DoDD, Thomas J., D. D., - - - - - - - 28 

Femai^e High Schooi., Mt. Sterling, Ky., - - 40 

Harrison Femai^e Coi.i<ege, _ - - _ _ 40 

Kentucky Wesleyan Coi^IvEGE, - - - - 29 

Kentucky Wesi<eyan Academy, Burnside, - - 39 

Kentucky Wesi^Eyan Academy, Campton, - - 38 

mli^iversburg mai.e and femai.e academy, - - 21 

MlI,I,ERSBURG Male AND FEMALE COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE, 22 
MiLLERSBURG FEMALE COLLEGE, ----- 25 

Science Hill Academy, ------ i8 

Sue Bennett Memorial School, - - - - 37 

Transylvania University, - _ - _ _ 19 

Union College, Barbourville, ----- 36 

2 5 



HISTORICAL SKETCHES. 



BETHEL ACADEMY. 

The Legislature of Virginia, in 1780, set apart 
eight thousand acres of land for the establishment 
of schools in the then County of Kentucky. The 
Methodists early took measures to secure a part of 
this land. With this object in view, Bishop As- 
bury and his friend Richard Whatcoat — afterwards 
Bishop Whatcoat — -left Southern Virginia early in 
May, 1790, arrived in Lexington on the 12th of the 
month, where Bishop Asbury preached, and then 
proceeded to the residence of Richard Masterson, 
five miles from Lexington, where he held the first 
Methodist Conference in Kentucky on the 14th of 
May, 1790. From this place Bishop Asbury and 
Rev. Francis Poythress, whom the bishop declared 
was '' much alive with God," rode to the land of 
Thomas Lewis, at the bend of the Kentucky 
River, known as Handy's Bend, near the present 
High Bridge, about nine miles from Nicholasville, 
which was not then laid out. Mr. Lewis offered 
the bishop one hundred acres of land as a site for 
Bethel Academy. Bishop Asbury made this entry 
in his journal: *' We fixed upon a place for a school, 
7 



8 INSTITUTION OF LEARNING. 

and called it Bethel, and obtained in land and 
money upwards of three hundred pounds towards 
its establishment." 

The principal assistants in establishing Bethel 
Academy were Rev. Francis Poythress, first presid- 
ing elder of the Kentucky District, and John Metcalf 
— the latter a native of Southampton County, Va., 
who came to Kentucky in the spring of 1790. In 
Littell's " Law's of Kentucky," published in 1808, 
it is recorded that " Bethel Academy was char- 
tered by the Legislature of Kentucky, February 
10, 1798, with the following Board of Trustees: 
Revs. Francis Poythress, John Knobler, Nathaniel 
Harris, John Metcalf, Barnabas McHenry, James 
Crutcher, James Hord, and Richard Masterson." 

The building was of brick, three stories in 
height and about ninety feet in length. The 
school was opened in 1794 by Rev. John Met- 
calf, who was principal until 1803. In 1799, 
Rev. Valentine Cook took charge of the Literary 
Department, with Rev. Francis Poythress assistant. 
Mr. Cook was a man of fine intellectual attain- 
ments, having been educated at Cokesbury, in 
Abingdon, Md. He remained in Bethel Acad- 
emy only one year. The Kentucky Conference 
of 1797 met in Bethel Academy, and in the same 
place in 1800, in both instances presided over by 
Bishop Asbury. 

In 1803, John Metcalf removed from Bethel 
Academy to Nicholas ville, and, building a log 



KENTUCKY ANNUAL CONFERENCE. 9 

house there, he opened a school, calling it Bethel 
Academy, which he conducted until 1820, when a 
large brick building was. erected for a public 
school, and much of the brick of old Bethel Acad- 
emy was used in its construction. The building 
bears the name of Bethel, and is an ornament to 
the city of Nicholasville. Rev. Thomas M. Watts 
writes : ^* It seems to me that this very material, 
consecrated by the self-martyrdom of Poythress, and 
baptized by the tears of Asbury, ought to be saved 
to the Church, but we make so little of history." 
Rev. Nathaniel Harris continued the Bethel school, 
on the heights of the Kentucky River, until 1805. 
The land donated by the State reverted to the 
State, and the hundred acres given by Mr. Lewis 
reverted to his estate, the school having ceased to 
be a Methodist school when Mr. Metcalf removed 
to Nicholasville. 

The old site of Bethel Academy is now owned 
by Mr. Wm. Handy. Though now a mass of ruins, 
its historic influence permeates the hundred years 
since its erection, and has fostered the develop- 
ment of the garden of our Commonwealth. Surely 
no one, with all the facts before him, will venture 
to write Bethel Academy in Kentucky a failure. 

AUGUSTA COLLEGE. 

In 1798 the citizens of Bracken County, Ken- 
tucky, secured from the State a grant of six 
thousand acres of land, to enable them to establish 



lO INSTITUTIONS OF LEARNING. 

Bracken Academy, at Augusta, the county-seat, 
situated on the Ohio River. The trustees wisely 
retained the land until it greatly increased in value ; 
thus securing a fund amply sufficient for the de- 
desired academy. At the session of the Ohio Con- 
ference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, held 
early in September, 182 1, Revs. John Collins and 
Martin Ruter were appointed commissioners to 
attend the meeting of the Kentucky Conference, 
in Lexington, Kentucky, on the i8th of the same 
month and year, to take steps for uniting the two 
Conferences in the establishment of a college. The 
subject having been considered by the Kentucky 
Conference, Revs. George C. Light and Marcus 
Lindsey, of that Conference, were appointed to 
confer with the commissioners from the Ohio Con- 
ference. On December 15, 1821, the commis- 
sioners of the two Conferences met at Augusta, and 
after consultations with the trustees of Bracken 
Academy, they jointly determined upon the estab- 
lishment of the first Methodist college in the 
world, at Augusta, Bracken County, Kentucky, 
under the title of Augusta College. 

Rev. John P. Finley, of Ohio, was admitted 
into the Kentucky Conference in 1822, and ap- 
pointed to Augusta College. In December, 1822, 
the institution was chartered by the Legislature of 
Kentucky as a college, with power to confer de- 
grees, etc. Soon after the charter was obtained, 
Captain James Armstrong, a layman of the Meth- 



KENTUCKY ANNUAL CONFERENCE. II 

odist Cliurch in Augusta, with a few friends, accom- 
plished the erection of a suitable edifice, sufficiently 
large, on a good-sized campus, of his own ; and on 
the 4th of October following, the building being 
completed, he generously conveyed the entire prop- 
erty to the trustees of the Augusta College. The 
building was of brick, three stories in height. On 
the first floor were a chapel, forty by thirty feet, 
and two recitation-rooms, thirty by eighteen feet 
in size. On the second floor were six rooms, and 
on the third floor seven rooms. Captain Armstrong 
died in August, 1824, ^"^^ lived to see the Prepar- 
atory Department organized. In compliance with 
the provisions of the Bracken County Academy 
Fund, Rev. John P. Finley continued his labors 
in the college, teaching Latin, Greek, and the 
English branches, until his death in May, 1825. 
His remains rest in the rear of the old Methodist 
church in Augusta. 

In September, 1825, ^^v. Joseph S. Tomlinson, 
A. B., a graduate of Transylvania University, was 
appointed Professor of Mathematics and Natural 
Philosophy. In October, 1825, Rev. John P. Dur- 
bin, A. M., was elected to the chair of Latin and 
Greek, and remained in the institution for six years. 
This celebrated divine and scholar was born in 
Bourbon County, Kentucky, in the year 1800. At 
the age of fourteen years he was apprenticed to a 
cabinet-maker in Paris, Kentucky. He was con- 
verted when eighteen years old, and soon after- 



12 INSTITUTIONS OF LEARNING. 

wards licensed to preach, and admitted into the 
Ohio Conference. He died in New York City, 
October 17, 1876. 

In 1827, Augusta College was fully organized, 
with Rev. Martin Ruter, A. M., its first president, 
and Professor of Oriental Ivanguages and Belles- 
lettres; Rev. Joseph S. Tomlinson, A. B., Professor 
of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy; Rev. 
John P. Durbin, A. M., Professor of Ancient Lan- 
guages and Greek and Roman Antiquities ; F. A. M. 
Davis, M. D., of Augusta, Professor of Chemistry 
and Botany; and Arnold Truesdale in charge of 
Academic Department, assisted by Rev. Thomas 
H. Lynch, a student in the college. The Primary 
Department was in charge of John Vincent. The 
president. Rev. Martin Ruter, D. D., was amongst 
the first, if not the first Methodist in the world 
bearing the title D. D., which was conferred upon 
him by Transylvania University. The Board of 
Trustees were John Armstrong, president, and 
Johnson Armstrong, treasurer, both of Maysville, 
Kentucky; Bishop Joshua Soule, D. D., and Revs. 
O. M. Spencer, John Meek, John Collins, George 
C. Light, and Enos Woodward. 

The course of study was full and complete, 
embracing all the branches required by the best 
colleges of that period. 

William McKendree Bangs, a son of the author 
and editor, Rev. Nathan Bangs, of New York, a 
graduate of Ohio University with the highest 




REV. JOHN P. DURBIN, D. D. 



KENTUCKY ANNUAL CONFERENCE. 1 3 

honors of the institution, was professor in Augusta 
College for two years. During this time the Meth- 
odists had a camp-meeting on Willow Creek, in 
Bracken County. A number of the Faculty of 
the college and others, young Bangs amongst 
them, were en route to the camp-ground, on horse- 
back. Professor Bangs had never before been 
astride a horse. A descent of about forty-five de- 
grees, to cross a creek, had to be made. Professor 
Bangs rode in the lead. In descending this de- 
clivity, he elevated his limbs horizontal with the 
horse's neck, and threw his head quite upon the 
animal's back. One of the professors, better posted 
in equestrianship, called out, "Hello, Bangs! what 
are you doing?" He promptly replied, "My phi- 
losophy, gentlemen, teaches me that, in descending 
such a declivity as this, I must maintain the center 
of gravity." Poor Bangs! The college boys got 
hold of this, and during his stay in Augusta, he 
never ceased to hear something about maintaining 
the center of gravity. 

In 1832, Rev. Dr. Ruter resigned the presidency, 
and Dr. Tomlinson, being transferred to the chairs 
of Natural Sciences and Belles-lettres, was made 
responsible also for the duties of president. Rev. 
John H. Fielding, A. M., who had been professor 
and president of Madison College, Pennsylvania, 
became Professor of Mathematics, which position 
he retained for three years. 

In 1833, Solomon Howard, an alumnus of Au- 
3 



14 INSTITUTIONS OF LEARNING. 

gusta College, was made principal of the Prepara- 
tory Department. 

In 1834, Frederick Eckstein became Professor 
of Modern Languages; W. W. Wallingford, Eng- 
lisli tutor; Don Raphael Espinoza, teacher of 
Spanish ; and Noah Archbold, teacher in Prepara- 
tory Department. 

In 1835, Rev. Joseph Trimble, D. D., of the 
Ohio Conference, succeeded Professor Fielding in 
the Department of Mathematics. 

The Catalogue of 1836 gives the following 
Faculty: Rev. Joseph S. Tomlinson, D. D., presi- 
dent; Rev. Burr H. McCown, A. M., Rev. Joseph 
M. Trimble, D. D., Rev. H. B. Bascom, D. D., 
professors; and Abner Chapman in the Preparatory 
Department. 

A friend has kindly handed me, "By-laws and 
Course of Instruction of Augusta College, for 1837," 
in which are found, amongst the Board of Trustees, 
the names of Rev. Joshua Soule, D. D. ; Hon. John 
McLean, of Ohio; Rev. Oliver M. Spencer, of Cin- 
cinnati; Rev. James B. Finley, of Ohio; and Mar- 
shall Key, Martin Marshall, Rev. James Savage, 
and Rev. F. A. Savage, of Kentucky. 

At the session of the General Conference in 
1840, Transylvania University, at Lexington, Ken- 
tucky, was, through Rev. Henry B. Bascom, ten- 
dered to the Methodist Episcopal Church, and 
accepted. This was earnestly opposed by Rev. 
Joseph Tomlinson, of Augusta College. 




REV. HENRY B. BASCOM, D. D., hh. D. 
Was Born Mav 27, 1796. Dikh Septkmbkr cS, 1850. 



KENTUCKY ANNUAL CONFERENCE. 1 5 

In 1842, Rev. H. B. Bascom withdrew from 
Augusta College, to accept the presidency of Tran- 
sylvania University. Professors B. H. McCown, 
Thomas H. Lynch, and Josiah L. Kemp also with- 
drew from Augusta College and accepted positions 
in Transylvania University. The withdrawal of 
these officers from Augusta College necessitated 
the reorganization of its Faculty, which for 1842-3 
were Rev. Joseph S. Tomlinson, D. D., president; 
Revs. Edmund W. Sehon and Herman M. John- 
son, A. M., professors; and James W. King, prin- 
cipal of the Preparatory Department. Rev. E. W. 
Sehon, A. M., declined to serve. 

In 1842, E. N. Elliott was elected Professor of 
Mathematics. Professor Johnson retired from Au- 
gusta College in 1844, ^^^ "^^^ succeeded by Pro- 
fessor Chandler Robbins, A. M., of Wesley an Uni- 
verity. 

Influences adverse to this struggling institu- 
tion, which were engendered in 1842, became so 
intensified in 1844 ^^^ subsequently that the re- 
peal of the charter and the closing of Augusta 
College transpired in 1849, and the funds of the 
Bracken County Academy, that had been trans- 
ferred to the trustees of Augusta College, re- 
verted to that Academy, and funds from the Ohio 
Conference that had been used for the benefit of 
Augusta College reverted to that Conference. 

A stereotyped record must not be withheld. 
The income never paid the professors living sal- 



1 6 INSTITUTIONS OF LEARNING. 

aries; and this deficiency was emphasized by the 
repeal of the charter, rendering the outstanding 
notes valueless. Sadness over the termination of 
Augusta College is enhanced by the facts that, be- 
sides the college edifice, there were a library of 
sixteen hundred volumes, two society libraries, ex- 
tensive philosophical and chemical apparatus, and 
two large dormitories — the whole property valued 
at $50,000. 

On the night of January 28, 1852, the princi- 
pal building was destroyed by fire, after which 
the trustees of Bracken Academy, aided by the 
citizens of Augusta, erected on the site a fine 
building for a graded school. 

During the existence of Augusta College one 
hundred and fifty-three students were graduated. 
Amongst others, honorary degrees were conferred 
upon Henry B. Bascom, a name familiar to all 
Methodism ; Rev. Charles Elliott, author of a mas- 
terly work on Romanism ; Bishop ly. L. Hamline, 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church ; John H. 
Fielding, D. D., author; Rev. John Miley, of Drew 
Theological Seminary, etc. The degree of D. D. 
was conferred, worthily, upon Bishops Elijah Hed- 
ding and William Capers ; also upon Wilbur Fisk, 
Samuel Lucky, Stephen Olin, and others. The 
degree of Ivly. D. was conferred by Augusta Col- 
lege upon Hon. John C. Wright, Hon. John W. 
Campbell, Thomas Ewing, Hon. Benjamin Wat- 
kins Leigh, of Ohio; Hon. John Boyle, of Ken- 



KENTUCKY ANNUAL CONFERENCE. 1 7 

tucky; Hon. John Pitman, of Rhode Island; Hon. 
George Robertson, of Kentucky, etc. Among the 
non-graduate alumni are many names of distinc- 
tion in various departments of usefulness. We 
select a few: General Doniphan, of Missouri; Pro- 
fessor McFarland, of the State University of Ohio ; 
Governor Robert Wickliflfe, of Louisiana; Bishop 
Randolph S. Foster, D. D., LL. D., of the Method- 
ist Episcopal Church; Rev. W. C. Dandy, D. D., 
and others. 

• Rev. Edward Cook, D. D., author of ''Early 
Schools of Methodism," says : "Augusta College in 
Kentucky was the first successful attempt at col- 
lege organization; this had a brilliant history for 
a few years." In the language of Rev. Daniel 
Stevenson, D. D., to whose writings we are greatly 
indebted for some historical facts: "Methodism and 
the country at large were greatly blessed and ben- 
efited by the establishment and continuance for 
the fourth of a century of Augusta College." Of 
this college and its achievements. Rev. Dr. Red- 
ford, the historian of "Methodism in Kentucky," 
in 1 84 1, bears this testimony: "Its Faculty was 
composed of men of genius, piety, and learning, 
and in all the learned professions, in almost ever}' 
Western and Southern State, its alumni may yet 
be found. It gave to the medical profession, to 
the bar, and to the pulpit, many of their brightest 
lights." 

With afiectionate reminiscences as one of its 



1 8 INSTITUTIONS OF LEARNING. 

non-graduates, we take leave of this historic col- 
lege, which should have remained a permanent 
crown of glory to its projectors. May its grand 
achievements prove to be the aurora of a new era 
in advanced Methodist education in this old Com- 
monwealth ! 

The people called Methodists, by their tradi- 
tions, by their heroes and scholars, must prove 
themselves the friends and promoters of advanced 
education in all departments of scholarship. They 
owe this to the past and the present, and to make 
the future renowned. 

SCIENCE HILL ACADEMY. 

The oldest and for many years the best school 
for girls in the South and West, was founded in 
Shelby ville, Kentucky, March 25, 1825, ^Y ^^s. 
Julia A. Tevis. Mrs. Tevis was a born teacher 
and governess. She had marked success in devel- 
oping school-girls into true and elegant women. 
She admirably sustained her superior reputation 
until her death in April, 1880. 

From this institution, for more than half a cen- 
tury, there went forth a great number of educated, 
accomplished women, into the South and West, to 
bless thousands of homes and communities. 

Over a year previous to Mrs. Te vis's death. Rev. 
W. T. Poynter, D. D., of the Kentucky Conference, 
purchased the school property, and assiduously de- 
voted himself to adapting the institution to modern 



KENTUCKY ANNUAL CONFERENCE. 1 9 

requirements and advanced ideas of female edu- 
cation, under the title, " Science Hill English and 
Classical School for Girls ^ 

Dr. Poynter died July 30, 1896, and the respon- 
sibilities of a large and thoroughly-organized school 
devolved upon his widow, Mrs. Clara Martin Poyn- 
ter, who is proving herself remarkably well adapted 
to sustain the standard of this model school. 

TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY. 

As PRKViousivY stated, in 1840 Transylvania 
University, of Lexington, Kentucky, was, through 
Rev. H. B. Bascom, tendered to the General Con- 
ference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and 
accepted. The commissioners of the General Con- 
ference proposed to elect Rev. H. B. Bascom, D. D., 
Ivlv. D., president. He declined, but accepted the 
presidency /r6> tem.^ and Burr H. McCown, D. D., 
was elected to the chair of Languages ; W. H. An- 
derson, D. D., to that of Moral Science; Thomas 

H. Lynch, Barker , of Pennsylvania, 

professors; and Josiah L. Kemp, Preparatory De- 
partment. 

Since its beginning, in 1798, Transylvania 
University had been successively under the control 
of the Presbyterian, Unitarian, Baptist, and Epis- 
copal Churches, and now, in 1840, of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church. 

In the fall of 1842 the university opened with 
an increase in the number of its students, in the 



20 INSTITUTIONS OF LEARNING. 

lyiterary Department from thirty or forty to several 
hundred. But the conditions became threatening. 
The rupture between the Churches of Methodism, 
North and South, was at hand. Trouble arose 
in the Faculty. When the business of Tran- 
sylvania University came up in the General 
Conference of 1844, at Petersburg, Virginia, 
the entire Faculty tendered their resignations, 
which were accepted. The General Conference 
proceeded to elect a new Faculty, in part: Rev. 
H. B. Bascom, D. D., LL. D., president; Rev. 
George F. Pearce, of Georgia, vice-president; and 
Professor Barker, of Pennsylvania, to the chair of 
Languages; the other chairs to be filled by the 
curators. The troubles increased. What though 
there were elected professors from Georgia, Penn- 
sylvania, and Louisiana? These States had their 
own colleges, to which they were pledged. Not 
only this difficulty, but the pecuniary condition 
was very embarrassing. 

The Conference abandoned the institution in 
1848, and the Methodists were again without a 
college in Kentucky. 

Upon this change, Professor James B. Dodd, 
author of a series of mathematical books, who was a 
Methodist, became president /r<9 tern, of Morrison 
College, of Transylvania University, and conducted 
a normal school from 1849 to 1856. 

In 1866, Transylvania University passed into 
the hands of the Christian Church. 



KENTUCKY ANNUAL CONFERENCE. 21 

COVINGTON FEMALE HIGH SCHOOL. 

In the spring of 1849, ^^v. George S. Savage 
and wife, Cleora B. Savage, opened a Methodist 
school for girls in the basement of the Baptist 
Church, on Fourth Street, in Covington, Kentucky. 
The Methodist Church, South, promised to secure 
suitable buildings for the school. The school 
opened with thirteen pupils, and at the close of 
two and a half years the number was one hundred 
and thirty-five. No effort having been made to 
secure the buildings promised, our uncle. Rev. 
F. A. Savage, of Glasgow, Missouri, formerly of 
Kentucky, induced us to move to that place, and 
take charge of the Glasgow Female Academy, 
where we remained three years, and then returned 
to Kentucky. 

MILLERSBURG MALE AND FEMALE ACADEMY. 

In the fall of 1852, Rev. John Miller, M. D., 
of the Kentucky Conference of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, South, was stationed in Millers- 
burg and Paris, alternating between the two places. 
The support of his family being doubtful, he 
opened the Millersburg Male and Female Acad- 
emy, as a Methodist school, in September, with the 
following teachers: Rev. John Miller, principal; 
Robert T. Miller, assistant principal ; Mrs. Elizabeth 
F. Foster, principal of the Female Department; 
and Miss Kalhause and Miss Elizabeth Miller, now 



22 INSTITUTIONS OF LEARNING, 

widow of P. Scott, of lyexington, Kentucky, in 
charge of the Music Department. The academy 
was a success. It had pupils from Bourbon, 
Harrison, and Carter Counties, from remote parts 
of the State, and from West Virginia. This was 
the first Methodist school in Millersburg. At the 
expiration of two years, the limit of Dr. Miller's 
pastoral charge, the academy passed into the hands 
of Rev. George S. Savage and wife, in the fall of 
1854. The school was conducted in the property 
of Mr. James Batterton, and was now opened un- 
der the new title, — 

M11.T.ERSBURG Male and Female Collegiate 
Institute. Chartered by the Ken- 
tucky Legislature in 1856. 

It opened with thirty-five pupils, and was a suc- 
cess. A friend has handed us a Catalogue of the 
'' Male and Female Collegiate Institute of 1857," one 
year before the transfer of the assets of the institute 
for the Kentucky Wesley an College was made. 
At the close of this scholastic year there were en- 
rolled ninety females and eighty-eight males, a 
total of one hundred and seventy-eight pupils. 

The Board of Instructors were : Rev. George S. 
Savage, M. D., principal, and teacher of Natural, 
Moral, and Intellectual Philosophy; Mrs. C. B. 
Savage, principal of Female Department, and 
teacher of Belles-lettres, Botany, French, and Or- 
namental Branches; A. G. Murphey, A. B., teacher 



KENTUCKY ANNUAL CONFERENCE. 23 

of Languages; William H. Savage, A. B., teacher 
of Mathematics ; Miss Martha M. Williams, teacher 
of Instrumental and Vocal Music ; Miss Penelope 
B. Savage, principal of Preparatory Department. 

After the close of the public examination of the 
classes, a committee of the leading patrons, and 
citizens of Millersburg and vicinity, was formed, 
which, after a strong preamble, proposed and passed 
the following resolutions : 

^^ Resolved^ i. That we, the citizens of Millers- 
burg and vicinity, are highly honored by, and may 
be justly proud of, an institution of learning in 
our midst of so high a character. 

^'' Resolved., 2. That the examination of the 
pupils of the Millersburg Male and Female Colle- 
giate Institute has evinced, on the part of the 
pupils, a clear conception of the principles and a 
thorough knowledge of all the branches studied, 
not to be excelled by the pupils of any institution 
of learning in our land. 

^^ Resolved^ 3. That the privilege of offering 
this tribute of respect, so justly due the Board of 
Instruction, is as gratifying to us as it may be 
regarded flattering to them. 

" Wm. ElENNEY, M. D., Chairman. 
"L. Marston, "James Batterton, Sr., 

" Wii,i,iAM NuNN, " Henry Parker, 

"John A. Mii^i^er, "James McGuffin, 
" Thomas Throckmorton, " Committee. 

"James Storey, President. 
"J. W, Snivei,y, Seeretary." 



24 INSTITUTIONS OF LEARNING. 

The buildings were inadequate to the increas- 
ing demands of the school, and Rev. T. P. C. 
Shellman, presiding elder of the Covington District, 
residing in Millersburg, conceived the idea of con- 
verting the institute into a district school for 
the Covington District, and commenced to collect 
money and secure pledges for this purpose. The 
sum of fifteen thousand dollars was supposed to be 
necessary for the proposed new building. Harri- 
son County, from which the institute received gen- 
erous patronage, proposed to furnish this amount, 
free of interest for five years, provided the institute 
be removed to Cynthiana. This sprang the Mil- 
lersburg patrons, and they promptly secured the 
amount, and arranged for the laying of the corner- 
stone of the new building during the session of 
the Annual Conference, to be held in Millersburg 
in September, 1858, Bishop H. H. Kavanaugh 
presiding. 

On Saturday of the Conference, in presence of 
an immense concourse of people, the corner-stone 
of the new building for the Millersburg Male and 
Female Collegiate Institute was laid. Addresses 
were made by Bishop Kavanaugh, Rev. Jefferson 
Hamilton, of the Alabama Conference ; and Hon. 
Garrett Davis, of Paris, Ky., United States sen- 
ator. A liberal contribution was secured. On the 
Monday following, a number of the representative 
men of the Conference proposed to the trustees 
of the institute that if they would transfer the as- 



KENTUCKY ANNUAL CONFERENCE. 25 

sets of the institute to the Conference it would 
establish and endow a first-class male college. 
Such a movement had been in the mind of the 
Conference for several years. The transfer was 
made with the male department of the institute, and 
the Conference pledged to raise an endowment of 
one hundred thousand dollars. 

Professor A. G. Murphey, president of Logan 
Female College, who was so long and intimately 
connected with the educational work in Millers- 
burg, writes: "But for the push and energy of Dr. 
George S. Savage, there would have been no Ken- 
tucky Wesleyan College, and this I would have 
publicly stated at the Convention at Louisville, if 
opportunity had permitted." The writer would 
add, that his wife is entitled to a large share in such 
honor. 

The female department was continued in the 
Batterton property by Rev. George S. Savage, who 
bought and enlarged the buildings, and secured a 
charter from the Kentucky Legislature for the 

MiLLERSBURG FEMALE COLLEGE, 

Chartered by the Legislature of Kentucky in i860. 
While lack of space forbids the recording of the 
the names of all the faithful toilers associated with 
us during the twelve years in which we labored in 
Millersburg, we must mention Hon. William H. 
Savage, A. M.; A. G. Murphey, A. M.,both alumni 
of Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, Ohio ; 



26 INSTITUTIONS OF LEARNING. 

Ltiman Roberts, A. M., and wife, nee Penelope B. 
Savage, now Mrs. M. S. Williams, one of Ken- 
tucky's most eminent educators ; Professor H. R. 
Blaisdell, deceased, late principal of the Covington 
High School; Mrs. Lydia P. Noble, of Paines- 
ville, Ohio; and Miss C. E. Bright, now Mrs. Rev. 
J. D. Walsh — the latter two in charge of the Music 
Department. 

It is simple justice to note that pupils from 
our schools in Covington and Millersburg went 
forth, many of them superior men and women, to 
adorn the professions, the elective positions in State 
and in educational service, as well as to occupy 
most creditably the more retired spheres of useful 
life in many States of our great country. We can 
but rejoice to have been accounted worthy of such 
honor. 

In 1866, Professor James W. Hamilton suc- 
ceeded Rev. George S. Savage in charge of Mil- 
lersburg Female College, succeeded in order by 
the following presidents of the college : 

1869-70, James A. Brown; 1870-72, Wm. H. 
Savage; 1872-74, William H. Savage and Rev. 
George T. Gould ; 1874-75, William H. Savage, 
George T. Gould, and Rev. H. W. Abbett; 1875- 
T], Rev. George T. Gould and H. W. Abbett; 
1877-84, George T. Gould; 1884-86, Rev. Morris 
Evans, D. D. ; 1886-97, Rev. C. Pope, D. D.; 
1897, Rev. C. C. Fisher. 

The buildings of the Millersburg Female Col- 



KENTUCKY ANNUAL CONFERENCE. 27 

lege were burned during the Christmas holidays of 
1878, but with the insurance and the liberality of 
the citizens, the present large and commodious 
structure was promptly erected on the site of the 
one destroyed. 

Amongst the eminent and successful teachers 
connected with the Millersburg Female College, 
mention should be made of Mrs. S. B. Trueheart, 
who was a member of the Faculty, and co-princi- 
pal with Dr. C. Pope from 1883 to 1893. Previous 
to her connection with the Millersburg Female 
College she had for twelve years been principal of 
the Stanford Female College, undenominational, 
which she conducted with marked ability and 
success. Her distinguished career as an educator 
of young women and girls is well known in the 
South. 

The Millersburg Female College is located in a 
beautiful town, blessed with a refined and cultured 
community, and it has from time to time sent forth 
toilers into other institutions of learning, and other 
young women fitted to adorn responsible positions 
in life. 

JAMES WILLIAM DODD, LL. D., 

Graduated at Transylvania University, at the age 
of seventeen years. He first taught a country 
school near Lexington, Ky., for one year. Then 
he took charge of the "Old Academy," at Nich- 
olasville, for two years. He next, in 1856, estab- 
lished a school for boys in Shelbyville, Ky., to pre- 



28 INSTITUTIONS OF LEARNING. 

pare them for college and university, limiting the 
number of pupils to thirty. He had competition, 
but by tact and discipline he had fine success. 
His pupils had no trouble in entering Princeton 
and Harvard. He taught this school for sixteen 
years. In 1872 he took charge of the Eclectic 
School, for girls and boys, in Frankfort, Ky. In 
1879 he accepted the chair of Latin in Vander- 
bilt University, and threw his whole soul into the 
work. Here he remained seven years, until his death , 
in August, 1 886. His career as an instructor was em- 
inently successful. He was greatly gifted in train- 
ing boys into scholarly men. His motto in the 
school-room was three S's: Self-reverence, Self- 
knowledge, Self-control. 

REV. THOMAS J. DODD, D. D., 

Was an eminent educator within the bounds of 
the Kentucky Annual Conference, and elsewhere. 
Dr. Dodd was a graduate of Transylvania Uni- 
versity, of Lexington, Kentucky, in 1857, and 
received his degree of D. D. from Center College, 
Danville, Kentucky. 

Nature and culture made Dr. Dodd an educator. 
He taught first a private school in Nicholas ville, 
then in Shelbyville, Lexington, and Winchester, 
successively. He succeeded Professor A. G. Mur- 
phey as principal of the Male Academy in Millers- 
burg, remaining from 1862 to 1865. He then 
taught a private school in Paris for six years. He 



KENTUCKY ANNUAL CONFERENCE. 29 

became president of the Kentucky Wesleyan Col- 
lege in Millersburg in 1875, ^^^ ^^ ^^7^ ^^^ elected 
professor of Hebrew in Vanderbilt University, 
where he remained nine years. He then taught a 
select classical school, first in Cincinnati, Ohio, 
then in Newport, Kentucky, from 1887 until 1898, 
when his illustrious career closed in death. Many 
of his pupils are filling honorable positions in the 
learned professions, and in the active arena of 
business life. 

KENTUCKY WESLEYAN COLLEGE. 

On the 30th of September, 1858, the first Board 
of Oflicers of the Kentucky Wesleyan College was 
organized, consisting of Revs. W. C. Dandy, Daniel 
Stevenson, John H. Linn, J. W. Cunningham; 
and David Thornton, W. C. Winlock, Hiram Shaw, 
and Moreau Brown, laymen. W. C. Dandy was ap- 
pointed chairman, and Daniel Stevenson secretary. 
The first meeting of the Board was held in Lex- 
ington, Kentucky. 

At the transfer of the assets of the Collegiate 
Institute to the Kentucky Conference in 1858, that 
body decided to put an agent into the field to raise 
the pledged endowment of one hundred thousand 
dollars for the Kentucky Wesleyan College. The 
citizens of Millersburg and Bourbon County 
pledged themselves, by their representatives, to 
furnish the grounds and the building for the col- 
lege, which they did. The agents who were ap- 



30 INSTITUTIONS OF LEARNING. 

pointed secured, principally by scholarships, about 
eighty thousand dollars, much of which was sub- 
sequently lost by unprofitable investments. 

From 1858 to 1879, ^^^ agents who secured the 
above amount were Revs. Samuel L. Robertson, 
Drummond Welburn, William C. Dandy, Daniel 
Stevenson, Charles W. Miller, William F. Taylor, 
H. R. Coleman, R. I^. Cooper, and Mr. George W. 
Bryan. 

In February, 1859, Professor A. G. Murphey, 
A. M., a graduate of Ohio Wesley an University, 
and who had been associated with Rev. George S. 
Savage in the Millersburg Male and Female Col- 
legiate Institute, opened the male school in the 
Town Hall, until the summer vacation, and re- 
moved to the new college building in September. 
The opening was propitious. In 1862, Professor 
Murphey, on account of declining health, retired, 
and was succeeded by Rev. T. J. Dodd, assisted by 
his brother, Virginius Dodd. In 1865 they retired, 
and Rev. Samuel L. Robertson and Rev. Henry 
W. Abbett took charge of the school. 

The college proper was opened in the fall of 
1866, with presidents and professors to the present 
time, as kindly furnished by Professor D. W. 
Batson : 

Prksidknts of Kentucky WesIvEyan CoIvIvEge. 

Rev. Charles Taylor, A. M., M. D., D. D., 1866- 
1870; Rev. B. Arbogast, A.M., 1870-1873; John 



KENTUCKY ANNUAL CONFERENCE. 3 1 

Darby, Ph.D., 1873-1875; Rev. T. J. Dodd, D. D., 
1875-1876; Rev. Wm. H. Anderson, M. D., D. D., 
1876-1879; D. W. Batson, A.M., 1879-1883; Rev. 
Alexander Redd, A. M., 1883-1884; D. W. Batson, 

A. M., 1884-1893; Rev. K. .H. Pearce, A.M., 
D.D., 1895. 

Professors. 

Rev. Charles Taylor, M. D., D. D., Mental and 
Moral Science, 1866-1870. A. G. Murphey, A. M., 
Logic and English Literature, 1866-1867; Natural 
Sciences, 1867-1870; Latin and Greek, 1870- 
1871; Greek, 1871-1875; Greek and English, 
1880-1881. Rev. H. W. Abbett, A. M., Latin and 
Greek, 1866-1870. Charles H. Theiss, A. M., 
Mathematics and Natural Sciences, 1866-1867 ; 
Mathematics, 1 867-1 874. Rev. Samuel L. Rob- 
ertson, Hebrew and Biblical Literature, 1866-1867 ; 
Mental Philosophy and Logic, 1877-1878. Rev. 

B. Arbogast, A. M., Mental and Moral Philosophy, 
1 870-1 873. John Darby, Ph. D., Natural Sciences, 
1 8 70-1 87 5. John W. Brown, A. M., Latin and 
French, 1870-1871. T. W. Jordan, A.M., Latin, 
1871-1879. D. W. Batson, A.M., Mathematics, 
1874-1883; Natural Sciences, 1884. Rev. T. J. 
Dodd, D. D., Mental Science and Greek, 1875- 
1876. Rev. William H. Anderson, M. D., D. D., 
Mental Science and Greek, 1876-1879. O. P. 
Moore, French and German, 1878-1880. Rev. 
Alexander Redd, A. M., Latin and Greek, 1879- 
1880; Latin and Mental Science, 1880-1884. 



32 , INSTITUTIONS OF LEARNING. 

Rev. Joe H. Young, Ph. D., English and Mental 
Science, 1879-1880. H. K. Taylor, A. M., Nat- 
ural Sciences, 1879-1881. W. H. Garnett, Ph. D., 
English and French, 1881-1883; Mathematics 
and French, 1883. B. F. Spencer, A. M., 
Oreek, 1881-1882 ; Greek and German, 1882. 
R. O. Hughes, B. S., Natural Science, 1881-1882. 
K. J. Morris, A. M., English, 1883-1884. C. 
Zdonowics, A. M., Chemistry and Physic, 1883- 
1884. C. W. Wood, A. M., English and Latin, 
1884-1887. Rev. Morris Evans, D. D., Mental 
Science, 1 884-1 885. J. C. C. Mayo, Assistant in 
Mathematics, 1886-1887. W. Y. Demaree, B. S., 
English and Latin, 1 887-1890. C. F. Spencer, 
A. B., Assistant in Mathematics and Latin, 1888- 
1890. Marvin West, A. M., EngHsh and Latin, 
1890-1891 ; Latin and History, 1891-1897. W. T. 
Martin, A. M., English, 1891-1894. Rev. T. W. 
Watts, Bible Study and Elocution, 1892-1893. Ed. 
McKenzie, A. M., Preparatory Department, 1894- 

1895. Rev. James L. Clark, A. B., Preparatory 
Department, 1895-1896. W. R. Buckner, B. S., 
Assistant Professor in Mathematics and Latin, 

1896. J. E. Wamsley, A. M., Latin and History, 

1897. Rev. George. S. Savage, M. D., Senior Bible 
Study, 1898. 

In i8gQ( at the session of the Kentucky An- 
nual Conference in Covington, Bishop Granberry 
presiding, it was voted to remove the Kentucky 
Wesleyan College from Millersburg to Winches- 



^^ /) KENTUCKY ANNUAL CONFERENCE. 33 

ter, Clark County, Kentucky./^ The citizens of 
Millersburg were strongly opposed to the removal, 
and contested it by litigation ; but the Bourbon 
Circuit Court, the Kentucky Court of Appeals, 
and the United States Supreme Court, all suc- 
cessively decided adversely to their suit, and the 
removal of the college to Winchester was sus- 
tained. A family by the name of Stewart, own- 
ing a tract of land in the western part of Win- 
chester, donated eight acres as a campus for the 
college. The ground is elevated and beautiful, 
being well set in blue grass and planted with shade- 
trees. In November, 1895, under the auspices of 
President Pearce, "State Arbor-day" was observed, 
and nearly one hundred forest-trees of standard 
varieties were planted with suitable ceremonies, 
some of them receiving the names of noted edu- 
cators and friends of the college. Class trees 
were donated by students of classes of that year. 
The occasion was of historic interest, in the fact 
that seven English elms were planted at the east 
angle of the main college building, as memorial 
trees for the founders of Bethel Academy, the first 
Methodist school in Kentucky. The names of the 
persons thus honored being Bishop Asbury, Poy- 
thress, Lewis, Hite, Nelson, Green, and Masterson. 
The tree named for Bishop Asbury stands nearest 
the college building, and proceeding from right to 
left, in order of names given, this group of trees 
forms a triangle. 



34 INSTITUTIONS OF LEARNING. 

The college bmilding is substantial, constructed 
of brick and stone, three stories in height, with a 
spacious basement, and surmounted by a tower. 
It is handsomely finished, with chapel, society- 
rooms, recitation-rooms, library containing two 
thousand volumes, among which are personal li- 
braries devised to the college by Bishop H. H. Kav- 
anaugh and Rev. T. N. Ralston, D. D. ; also lab- 
oratories supplied with extensive chemical and 
philosophical apparatus, and museum of geolog- 
ical and other specimens of instructive interest. 
It has also a well-arranged and well-furnished gym- 
nasium of modern structure, with bath-rooms with 
cold and hot water, etc. The gymnasium is due 
to the liberality, principally, of Mr. Thomas L. 
Clark, of Williamstown, Ky., and others. 

The friends of the college are under obligations 
to Rev. William F. Taylor, president of the Board 
of Education, for untiring supervision in the plan- 
ning and erection of the building. In 1895, by the 
liberality of President Pearce, the Board of Edu- 
cation, and others, the interior of the building was 
elegantly and beautifully finished and furnished. 

The Kentucky Wesleyan College has a presi- 
dent and Faculty of scholarly, ambitious, ener- 
getic young men, who have abundantly proven 
themselves superior educators. A number of their 
graduates have taken positions in some of the best 
universities of the country, and some are cultivat- 
ing foreign fields. 



KENTUCKY ANNUAL CONFERENCE, 35 

The matriculations, since the removal of the 
college to Winchester, have ranged from one hun- 
dred and nineteen to one hundred and forty-eight. 

President Pearce is hopeful for the future, and 
is untiring in labors, especially in traveling and so- 
liciting funds and students for the college, and 
keeping it prominently before the public. 

Dr. Pearce furnishes the following statement : 
"From 1895 to 1899 there has been secured to 
Kentucky Wesleyan College and its adjunct work 
from all sources, twenty-two thousand five hundred 
dollars." 

History furnishes but few instances of such 
unselfish and heroic devotion as has been mani- 
fested by the professors who have been longest 
connected with Kentucky Wesleyan College. Some 
of them have declined more lucrative and promis- 
ing positions in other institutions, and have chosen 
rather to share the fortunes and toil for the wel- 
fare of their beloved Alma Mater with unswerving 
and commendable devotion. 

In 1892 young women were admitted to the 
privileges of the college, and they have proven 
worthy of the opportunities thus afforded, to add 
honor to the institution as students and graduates. 

AUGUSTA COLLEGE INSTITUTE. 

On the loth of June, 1879, ^^^- I^aniel Steven- 
son, D. D., a graduate of Transylvania University, 
and noted author and divine, opened a school for 



36 INSTITUTIONS OF LEARNING. 

both sexes in the Augusta College building in 
Augusta, Kentucky, under the above title ; and at 
the next meeting of the Kentucky Conference of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, the institution 
was placed under the patronage and supervision of 
that body. Dr. Stevenson continued in charge of 
this school until his removal, in 1887, ^^ 

UNION COLLEGE, BARBOURVILLE, KY. 

This institution was chartered by the Legisla- 
ture of Kentucky in 1879; ^^^ college building 
was erected and dedicated in 1880, and in 1887 the 
property was sold to Rev. Daniel Stevenson, and re- 
mained under his administration until his death in 
January, 1897. He improved the buildings, and de- 
veloped the institution from a co-educational school 
into a regular college for both sexes. The college 
building is a two-and-a-half-story brick edifice, con- 
taining ten rooms, on a campus of three acres. The 
chief contributor towards the purchase of this prop- 
erty and the sustaining of the college has been 
Mrs. Fanny Speed, of Louisville, Kentucky. The 
library is called the Speed-Stevenson Library, in 
honor of Mrs. Fanny Speed and Mrs. Daniel Ste- 
venson. Mrs. Speed has generously instituted an 
endowment of $8,000 for the Board of Education 
of the Kentucky Conference of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. 

Since the death of Dr. Stevenson, the college has 
been under the administration of Rev. J. P. Faulk- 



KENTUCKY ANNUAL CONFERENCE. 37 

ner, A. M., with a continued and v/ell-sustained 
corps of teachers. 

ASBURY COLLEGE. 
ASBURY C01.1.KGE, located at Wilmore, Jessa- 
mine County, Kentucky, was founded by Rev. J. W. 
Hughes, of the Kentucky Conference of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church, South, September 2, 1890. 
It started in four rooms, with two teachers, and 
eleven pupils. The year closing June, 1899, shows 
218 pupils enrolled. There are now six buildings, 
with the president's residence, and a large chapel, 
and campus of six acres. The college has a ca- 
pacity for teaching three hundred students, and 
boarding accommodations for one hundred. It has 
sent out over sixty ministers of the gospel, and has 
had students from twenty States, from Canada, 
England, Japan, and Persia. The success of the 
enterprise is mainly due to the energy and ability 
of its founder, Rev. J. W. Hughes. The location 
is beautiful and healthy. 

SUE BENNETT MEMORIAL SCHOOL 
Was conceived in the loving heart and pro- 
jected by her whose name it bears, and is located 
in London, Laurel County, Kentucky, in the 
mountains. It was established by the Woman's 
Home Missionary Society of the Kentucky Con- 
ference, and transferred to the General Board of 
Woman's Home Missions of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, South. 



38 INSTITUTIONS OF LEARNING. 

The school was opened in the fall of 1897, for 
men, women, boys, and girls ; Professor J. C. Ivewis, 
principal. The cottage system has been adopted, 
and four Conference societies — those of Kentucky, 
Tennessee, Georgia, and I^ittle Rock — have erected 
frame cottages costing about $300 each. The 
Board, at this writing, is erecting a dormitory, to 
be called the Lucinda B. Helm Dormitory, where 
board can be had at $1.25 or $1.50 per week, and 
where cooking, sewing, and general housework 
will be taught. Carpenter work is being taught. 
The year just closed had an enrollment of more 
than two hundred students. The main build- 
ing, a large, commodious brick structure, will ac- 
commodate three hundred pupils. Professor Lewis 
is admirably adapted to the position he occupies, 
and is assisted by a well-qualified and enthusastic 
corps of teachers. The progress of this institution 
will be intensely interesting to its friends. The 
success so far has been phenomenal. 

KENTUCKY WESLEYAN ACADEMY, CAMPION, KY. 

Campton is the county-seat of Wolfe County, 
Kentucky, a healthily-located village, with about 
four hundred inhabitants, in the eastern mountain- 
ous portion of the State, where education is greatly 
needed. The building is a handsome two-story 
brick, attractively located, and well furnished with 
modern school furniture. Professor K. K. Bishop 
has had charge for three years, assisted by Clarence 



KENTUCKY ANNUAL CONFERENCE. 39 

M. Nugent, a graduate of Kentucky Wesley an Col- 
lege. Good work has been done. The Bible and 
Christianity have been made prominent-in teaching, 
and have made their impress upon the minds of 
the students and the community. 

This promising school owes its successful in- 
auguration very largely to the efiforts of Rev. J. Iv. 
West, of the Kentucky Conference. 

KENTUCKY WESLEYAN ACADEMY, BURNSIDE, KY. 

One of the academies of Kentucky Wesleyan 
College is located at Burnside, Kentucky, one of 
the most picturesque and healthful locations in the 
State, on the Cincinnati Southern Railroad, at the 
crossing of that unique water-course, the Cum- 
berland River. The academy has just closed its 
third scholastic year, — two years under the careful 
labors of Rev. James L. Clark, a graduate of Ken- 
tucky Wesleyan College, and the last year under 
the conduct of Professor James C. Dolley, A. M., a 
graduate of Randolph Macon College, Virginia. 
The academy is taught in the commodious build- 
ing erected some years ago, at an expense of about 
$20,000, for a summer hotel, by Colonel C. W. 
Cole, of Cincinnati, who has generously granted 
the use of the building for five years, rent free, for 
the school. 

The citizens of the manufacturing town of 
Burnside have manifested a liberal interest in the 



40 INSTITUTIONS OF LEARNING. 

support of the academy. Bumside has recently, 
by a large majority, re-voted local option. 

These two institutions were organized by the 
indefatigable energy and perseverance of Rev. 
E. H. Pearce, D. D., president of the Kentucky 
Wesleyan College. 

BOURBON FEMALE COLLEGE. 
Professor J. A. Brown, whose name is re- 
corded in connection with the Millersburg Female 
College, went from that institution with his wife, 
Mrs. Elizabeth S. Brown, an alumnus of Millers- 
burg Female College, to Paris, Ky., in 1871, and 
organized the Bourbon Female College, which they 
conducted with marked success for seven years. 
In 1878 they opened the 

HARRISON FEMALE COLLEGE, 
in Cynthiana, where they also remained seven 
years, when they removed to Wheeling, W. Va., 
and spent two years in charge of the Wheeling 
Female College. In 1887 they returned to Cyn- 
thiana, Ky., and resumed the charge of the Har- 
rison Female College, where they continued for 
ten years, thus compassing twenty-six years of 
active successful work in the department of Meth- 
odist education for girls in Kentucky. 

FEMALE HIGH SCHOOL, MT. STERLING, KY. 
Professor Wili^iam H. Savage, who has 
been previously mentioned as professor and presi- 



KENTUCKY ANNUAL CONFERENCE. 4 1 

dent of the Millersburg Female College, opened 
afterwards the Female High School in Mount Ster- 
ling, Ky. This school he conducted with progres- 
sive success until 1880, when he removed to Texas, 
where he continued his chosen calling as instructor 
of youth. 

CONCLUSION. 

Thk history of collegiate education under the 
auspices of the Methodist Church in Kentucky is 
an instructive history. Portions of it have been 
brilliant, and a noble record has been made. There 
have also been mistakes and failures. That the 
Methodist people in Kentucky should have a 
first-class college in every regard, and well en- 
dowed, is not a debatable question. It is an 
absolute necessity. It will require money. Our 
people have the money. Let the past go. Leave 
it behind. We must go forward. The time 
is auspicious. The Methodist Church is now 
stirred on this subject as never before. Delay 
will be perilous. If we embrace and utilize the 
opportunity, well. We may retrieve the past, 
command respect, take position, and fully redeem 
ourselves. Prompt action and liberal giving, with 
God's blessing, will accomplish the important 
work. 



